Papers relating to the career of Maj Peter Oldfield, 1941-1944, including: diary, Jun-Nov 1941, detailing work at Air Reconnaissance Unit at the Middle East Headquarters; typescript 'War Diary' of Peter and Elisabeth Oldfield, with excerpts from Elisabeth's memoirs of following Oldfield to Middle East and Oldfield's reminiscences of his experiences, written by a member of the family, [2004]; Elisabeth Oldfield's typescript memoirs; constitution of Special Air Service regimental association; photographs of the Western Desert, [1942], including Long Range Desert Group activities, Field Marshal Erwin Rommell, and surrendering Italian prisoners; photograph of ship being sunk off Tunisia, 1941; photographic copies of letters from Oldfield to his wife Elisabeth, VAD, 15 Scottish Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, 1943. Letters to family from William Gibbons of Knight, Frank and Rutley, including description of Oldfield's capture, 1943; postcards from Oldfield while Italian POW to family and friends, 1943; correspondence from Switzerland whilst interned including letters to his wife from Berne, Dec 1943; postcards from Oldfield to family, 1944. Press cuttings relating to POWs, Special Air Service and events of war. Papers relating to award of bronze statuette to Oldfield by 1 Special Air Service regiment, including letters from Lt Col David Stirling, 1981, and press cutting on reward.

The collection presents an integrated record of US decision making during the 1962 nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Much of the documentation focuses on the period from Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy's 16 Oct 1962 briefing of President Kennedy on the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba to Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev's 28 Oct 1962 decision to withdraw the weapons. Papers include intelligence reports, diplomatic cables, political analyses, military situation reports, and meeting minutes relating to the immediate backdrop to the crisis, the crisis (16 Oct-28 Oct 1962), and its aftermath. Papers concerning the background to the crisis relate to US attempts to overthrow Cuban Prime Minister Dr Fidel Castro following the Bay of Pigs invasion, Apr 1961; US and Soviet nuclear capabilities and doctrine in the early 1960s; the deployment of US Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) to forward bases in Europe; and the concern over the resurgence of Soviet military aid to Cuba in the summer of 1962. Papers relating to the crisis include US intelligence reports confirming the construction of Soviet missile bases in Cuba; National Security Council minutes relating to a potential invasion of Cuba by US conventional forces, possible US air attacks against Cuba and the resultant Cuban casualties, the possibility of imposing an economic blockade around Cuba, the maintenance of US U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft flights over Cuba, and the possibility of Soviet retaliatory military actions against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) states in the event of US attacks on Cuba, 16 Oct 1962; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) daily intelligence reports concerning Soviet missile bases and possible Soviet surface to surface SS-4 ('Sandal') nuclear missiles in Cuba; reports from the UN Security Council and General Assembly from the US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Ewing Stevenson; meetings between Kennedy and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Andreevich Gromyko; US estimates of Cuban ground forces; articles from Soviet news agency TASS denouncing American motives in Cuba; reports from US Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara regarding the possible withdrawal of US missile bases in Italy and Turkey in exchange for Soviet withdrawals from Cuba; discussions of the possible US 'Naval Quarantine' of Cuba; CIA estimates relating to possible Soviet first strike military capability with missiles in Cuba; NSC reports relating to the construction of IRBM and Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) bases in Guanajay and San Cristóbal, Cuba, 21 Oct 1962; President Kennedy's announcement to world heads of state regarding the US 'Naval Quarantine' of Cuba (24 Oct-20 Nov 1962) to prevent further Soviet arms shipments of offensive weapons and development of further missile bases, 23 Oct 1962; message from Khrushchev to Kennedy stating that the US 'Naval Quarantine' is an act of aggression against both Cuba and the Soviet Union, 23 Oct 1962; statements by US Ambassador Stevenson, Cuban Ambassador Mario Garcia Incháustegui, and Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in the UN Security Council, 23 Oct 1962; documents relating to the operational readiness of US continental nuclear forces; minutes from UN Security Council meeting, 25 Oct 1962; letter from Khrushchev to Kennedy suggesting that the Soviet Union would withdraw missile bases in return for a US 'non-invasion commitment' towards Cuba, 26 Oct 1962; negotiations over verification of the Soviet missile withdrawal; the US non-invasion 'guarantee' to Cuba and the Soviet Union; and, the question of Soviet Ilyushin IL-28 ('Beagle') bombers and troops remaining in Cuba. The collection also includes retrospective studies of the missile crisis, including the US Department of State internal history of the crisis, US Department of Defense comprehensive reports describing the actions of military commands and units during the missile crisis, and US government records relating to the US-Soviet rapprochement developed in the 1970s and 1980

Thirty two British and French printed maps of France, Belgium, Germany and the UK, various scales, 1911-1918, including annotated trench maps of operations and advances during the Battles of Cambrai, 1917, Bellecourt, 1917, and Fourth Battle of Arras, 1918, with newspaper cuttings of the Western Front, 1918 and aerial photograph of Solesmes, France, annotated with position of 461 Field Company Royal Engineers, 19-20 Oct 1918, also painted unit insignia of 62 (2 West Riding) Div, Royal Engineers [1918].